Greek general strike shuts down country Why not in America?

[auagroach]

Greek general strike shuts down country

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10372933
16.03.06 12.20pm



ATHENS - Greek private and public sector unions launched a 24-hour strike on Wednesday in protest against government economic reforms, shutting down most of the country and crippling transport.

Thousands of workers took to the streets as unions staged large rallies in several cities and accused the government, half-way through its four-year term, of penalising workers unfairly with a series of unpopular reforms.

[auagroach]

1. Why not a general strike in the States?

Sorry I know this news is a bit stale news and might have been posted before but did anyone ask why the Greeks can do this and we Americans can't? You can bet your bottom dollar if this would happen in the U.S. it would get the powers to be attention real fast.

[dogman]

2. Greed!

The "I got mine you get your own" mentality of the average American. Hell, the unions here are fighting each other for work and dues paying members. Solidarity is not an American ideal.

[auagroach]

3. Point Taken

Roughed American individualism and all that. Guess it'll just have to get worse before Americans get over their fear of fraternalism

[Dr.Phool]

4. We just have it so good here

There's no reason to protest.:sarcasm:

[Burning Water]

8. Unfortunately,

a LOT of people seem to feel that way. Makes you wonder why when America's faults are so plain for all to see.

[Hubert Flottz]

5. "Why not in America?"

Well those people must live in a free country in the "Free World!" If we lived in a "democracy" in the "Free World," we'd probably do the same damned thing! Hell, the people in Poland did it in a communist country and made it work! BTW, Don't Forget SOLIDARITY as you "don't forget Poland!"

PEACE!

[tocqueville]

6. to get to an European level a march to Washington should

gather 6 000 000 people and about the same all over the country. That means only 2-4% of the population. But that is considered here as a warning level of deep dissatisfaction that could get overhand into unrest.

in the US the unions were efficiently killed after the gilded age and replaced by churches.

Amen

that's why the social solutions in the US completely differ from the ones from the rest of the Westerb world. It has created unprecented wealth, but at what price ? All elements show that the model isn't sustainable on the long term. The actual situation is just the warning from the inevitable collapse to come.

[TomClash]

7. Unions basically can't call general strikes

under the Taft-Hartley and Landrum-Griffith Acts.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

9. Most European countries have a living memory of being under

tyrannical governments. For many, it was occupation by the Nazis during World War II. Italy was under Mussolini. For Greece, it was the military coup by right-wing generals that overthew the elected government in the 1960s.

Another factor is that most of these countries have genuine leftist parties with large constituencies linked to the labor unions.

Since we Americans have no national living memory of fighting tyranny at home, it's too easy for the majoriity to believe that they are "free" and have nothing to complain about. With the unions weakened, there's nobody to tell them otherwise.